White Chocolate
by Raven Ehtar
Summary: Chocolate can be addicting, with dark, sensual smells and a way of melting across the tongue that sends shivers… but what about white chocolate? Subtle Mello/Near.


_**A/N:**__ Right-o, so this one was just something random to satisfy my Mello/Near addiction, really. I came up with and scribbled down the title to this before any sort of plot came to mind, rediscovered it a few weeks ago, and came up with this. Tis drabble-ish, so don't expect anything special. (Consider it a little apology for my long absence.)_

_**Disclaimer: **__Death Note__ and related characters © Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. They've yet to return my calls. T^T_

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White Chocolate

Raven Ehtar

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You've heard about chocolate, right? That it's an aphrodisiac?

It's not like this is an obscure piece of information. This little factoid has been floating around for hundreds of years, and the only impressive thing one can say about it is there are still people _anywhere_ that don't know it. The challenge is to find someone who doesn't know it and who will be impressed by your apparent great and esoteric knowledge.

You've also heard, no doubt, that chocolate is addictive. The term 'chocoholic' is often applied to people who consume large amounts of it, as though it were a drug wrapped in bright, pretty papers and sold to anyone with the wit to purchase.

There's no denying that chocolate is a taste that calls you back over and over. The balance of sugars and fats is just right to fire of the maximum number of synapses in your brain, releasing a flood of endorphins and a feeling of euphoria. The melting point is just at body temperature, so pieces will melt in your mouth, spreading across your tongue. Smooth texture and dark flavor, even the smell can be enough to set off a person's senses.

Scientifically, the property that makes chocolate both an aphrodisiac and so addictive is something called theobromine. It's an element naturally found in cocoa beans, and which every kind of chocolate has. From milk chocolate to dark to bittersweet to Baker's, the highest concentrations found in the darkest varieties every kind has at least a trace about.

White chocolate has only a nominal amount of theobromine. It affects your brain the least and is the least addicting out of any other kind. In some countries, it's not even considered real chocolate. Let me repeat this. White chocolate is not actually chocolate at all. It is only chocolate in appearance and name, not in any kind of way that truly matters.

I've been called a chocoholic, and I suppose it's true. It's one of the things that will cheer me up or settle me down despite almost anything. I make a point to always have a little piece of the candy on hand. I've tried just about every kind, as well, including an unfortunate misconception over Baker's chocolate when I was young. One type I have always avoided, however, has been white chocolate. It's never been enticing to me. Too pale compared to the real stuff, and too bland. Even the texture is off; rather than melting away in your mouth, it will melt and then leave an unpleasant film clinging to your teeth. The entire experience of white chocolate is just a weak shadow compared to proper chocolate.

For some reason, though, I decided to try some, to _experience_ white chocolate.

Call it what you will; curiosity, fascination, or just the need to try every variant of my addiction without exception, I did try it. I wasn't in the least concerned that I would end up genuinely liking white chocolate. The dark kinds were what I really enjoyed, white was merely an experiment. And white chocolate has very little theobromine; it wouldn't cause the same release of endorphins, it wouldn't addict me.

That's what I thought, anyway, what I believed the first time I decided to sample it. And for a while after that sampling I still believed it. I'd had my taste, satisfied my curiosity, and could move on, the need to sample forgotten.

Except that it didn't work that way. Everything I thought I knew about white chocolate worked to prove me wrong. It wasn't tasteless; it didn't cling; and it wasn't unsatisfying… but what was most important was that white chocolate _is_ addicting. I found myself going back for more, without actually understanding what it was that kept calling me back. That was the worst part of it all, being compelled to taste it again and again, and not really… _enjoying_ it.

So here I am, addicted now more to something that only pretends to be what it is, rather than the genuine article.

Who knew white chocolate was so near to the real thing?

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_**A/N2:**__ Yeah, so, drabble-y, only it's too long to really be a drabble. Meh. All the technical info on chocolate and theobromine are fairly accurate, although a lot of it is unsubstantiated when it comes to how well it acts as an aphrodisiac. I took a little artistic license, there. ^^_

_**Thanks for reading, everyone, I hope you enjoyed my pointless little fic. :3**_


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